ArticlePLoS genetics2020
UNBRANCHED3 Expression and Inflorescence Development is Mediated by UNBRANCHED2 and the Distal Enhancer, KRN4, in Maize.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers.
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41 citing papers in PubMed, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Ear Traits in Early-Maturing Maize Under Contrasting Planting Densities.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Designed Alleles of ZmRap2.7 Decouple the Trade-Off Between Early Flowering and Yield Penalty.Plant biotechnology journal · 2026Article
- Constitution and function of intergenic genome regions in cultivated versus annual wild soybean in China.Journal of integrative plant biology · 2026Article
- Cis-regulatory architecture downstream of FLOWERING LOCUS T underlies quantitative control of flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana.Genome biology · 2026Article
- Genetic Variation in the Main Cultivar Collection ofCurrent issues in molecular biology · 2026Article
- Synthetic Biology of Plants and Microbes for Agriculture, Environment, and Future Applications.Chemical reviews · 2026Review
- Single-molecule views of chromatin accessibility and structure during photomorphogenesis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Decades' progress and prospects on maize functional genomics and molecular breeding.Science China. Life sciences · 2025Review
- Article
- Vegetative to generative1 (Vgt1) is an enhancer affecting flowering time and jasmonate signaling in maize by promoting the expression of Zea mays Related to APETALA 2.7.Plant physiology · 2025Article
- Multi-omics analysis of the maize ear diameter mutant3 (zmed3) provides insights into female inflorescence development.BMC plant biology · 2025Article
- Identification of yield-related QTLs and their applications using DH population in maize.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Enhancers in Plant Development, Adaptation and Evolution.Plant & cell physiology · 2025Review
- The chromatin accessibility landscape during early maize seed development.The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology · 2025Article
- Fine mapping and candidate gene mining of major QTLFrontiers in plant science · 2025Article
- Comparative transcriptome analysis identified candidate genes associated with kernel row number in maize.PeerJ · 2025Article
- Hormonal influence on maize inflorescence development and reproduction.Plant reproduction · 2024Review
- Mapping of dwarfing gene and identification of mutant allele on plant height in wheat.Molecular breeding : new strategies in plant improvement · 2024Article
- DNA methylation variations underlie lettuce domestication and divergence.Genome biology · 2024Article
- A spatial transcriptome map of the developing maize ear.Nature plants · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Enhancers are cis-acting DNA segments with the ability to increase target gene expression. They show high sensitivity to DNase and contain specific DNA elements in an open chromatin state that allows the binding of transcription factors (TFs). While numerous enhancers are annotated in the maize genome, few have been characterized genetically. KERNEL ROW NUMBER4 (KRN4), an intergenic quantitative trait locus for kernel row number, is assumed to be a cis-regulatory element of UNBRANCHED3 (UB3), a key inflorescence gene. However, the mechanism by which KRN4 controls UB3 expression remains unclear. Here, we found that KRN4 exhibits an open chromatin state, harboring sequences that showed high enhancer activity toward the 35S and UB3 promoters. KRN4 is bound by UB2-centered transcription complexes and interacts with the UB3 promoter by three duplex interactions to affect UB3 expression. Sequence variation at KRN4 enhances ub2 and ub3 mutant ear fasciation. Therefore, we suggest that KRN4 functions as a distal enhancer of the UB3 promoter via chromatin interactions and recruitment of UB2-centered transcription complexes for the fine-tuning of UB3 expression in meristems of ear inflorescences. These results provide evidence that an intergenic region helps to finely tune gene expression, providing a new perspective on the genetic control of quantitative traits.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.